About

$41,991

1,241

Indie Pogo is a platform brawler game for 2-4 players about bouncing, ricocheting, and pogoing your friends into oblivion!

It’s sort of like if we replaced the cast of Smash Bros. with 30+ indie fighters and gave them all trampolines to fight on.

Inspired by games like Super Smash Bros,Legend of the Mystical Ninja, and League of Legends, we are developing a competitive & quirky game that is easy to learn, yet difficult to master.

After collaborating with over 50 studios across 15 different countries, we're striving to create the ultimate indie crossover!

Gather your friends for 2-4 player local romps, or climb the online ladder in the bounciest of battles. Prepare yourself for a rompin' stompin' jumpin' good time!

How to Play...

Characters auto-jump, which keeps gameplay ever in motion

Stomp, bash, bludgeon, and bounce on foes in clever ways to send them flying

Fighters die when their HP reaches zero, or if they are knocked off a stage!

It's not about winning...it's about FUN! Just kidding, it's about winning and rubbing their noses in it! You can buy a variety of taunts in the shop and assign up to 4 to your player profile.

Every great fighting game needs a diverse roster and Indie Pogo's is eclectic and zany! We base the roster off a number of factors: mechanic potential for movesets, visual uniqueness, mascot quality, color scheme, genre of game origin, weight class, etc. But our number one criteria is that characters must come from a game that is complete and publicly accessible.

You'll notice that we didn't list fame as a criteria. That's because we want to celebrate all walks of life in the indie scene. That may be via household names, or it may be to signal boost other very deserving titles. Our goal is to surprise, delight, and inform!

Journey to hand-crafted stages from beautiful indie worlds! Not every playable character will have their own stage, and not every stage will feature an accompanying playable fighter. Some games have inventive worlds whose characters don't have much moveset potential. Rather than exclude them, we want to let those imaginative worlds shine and create new experiences!

We do our darndest to represent each stage faithfully, while taking creative liberties to ensure stage layouts and visual designs are clear, readable and, most importantly, engaging! Take a gander and enjoy some sexy chiptunes.

Because fighters have a set number of HP, we're able to create arenas that are closed in and don't feature blast zones. Gameplay dynamics shift on these stages as the focus is on doing damage rather than knockback.

Some arenas have stage hazards! Luckily for all you serious competitors, we have a stage-hazard-toggle on the stage-select screen! Your move Smash Bros!

Some stages even have terrain that changes over the course of a match. Fighters need to remain savvy at all times in order to claim victory!

Who's Next?! You Decide...

We want to make this a community endeavor. We've selected a group of 5 characters (which we have permission to use) from the cameo pool. We want you to decide which of these 5 will be developed next.

We already have some basic moveset ideas for each character chosen, but we won't finalize a moveset until after the campaign. Characters often change in development and we're always interested in learning new perspectives. Feel free to hit us up on social media if there's something you'd like to share!

We will announce the winner at the end of the kickstarter campaign and begin the design process then. Everyone gets one vote per-device. Click this link below to decide which fighter will be added to the roster next:

*UPDATE* POLL IS NOW CLOSED AND WINNERS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED

Cameo Pool

It's from this cameo pool that we pick playable fighters from, based on the roster's needs. So if your favorite indie character isn't playable, that may change one day! In addition to playable fighters, we will be featuring games in a number of ways, including playable stages, trophies, taunts, and various menu appearances.

The total number of cameos has been gradually growing over the past 3 years. We're constantly reaching out to new developers, so if there's a game that's not represented here, it may just mean we haven't had the chance to make a formal pitch yet. We're currently collaborating with 50+ studios spread across 15 different countries!

Every cameo, playable or not, will feature an unlockable trophy! Once their trophy is unlocked, they will also make an appearance elsewhere in the game's menu overworld.

Games in Development

We want to give our support to a number of fantastic looking games that are currently in development as well. As soon as any of these games are completed & released, they will be added to the aforementioned cameo pool.

Additional player costumes are not simply palette swaps. They are creating completely new sprites/particles/sound effects for each playable fighter!

PS4/Xbox One ports will take time. Time is money!

Equip a relic before the match begins. Relics add passive traits to players, such as giving one extra air jump, adding +3 max HP, life-leach on attacks, etc!

In addition to classic mode, we will create new ways to enjoy Indie Pogo if you're riding solo. Think "break the targets" and the like.

Horde Survival isn't just fighting AI enemy fighters. Take on hordes of minion enemies, all with unique traits and AI. Survive as long as possible against enemies, hazards and various challenges!

Want to know how each fighter arrived to the world of Indie Pogo and why they've joined the battle? So do we! Watch animated cut-scenes for each playable during their solo classic mode campaign!

Game Maker Studio doesn't port to Nintendo Switch (...yet), and if it never will, we will have to port the game to a new engine. But hey, we'll include all the bells and whistles from the prior stretch goals!!

Lowe Bros. Studios is an independent game development studio founded by Trevor & Jaron Lowe. After dabbling in iPhone development for a few years, we've made the move to create meatier experiences that can be enjoyed on a PC/console. Together, we have a Masters of Science in Interactive Entertainment, and 2 Bachelors of Science in Computer Science.

We are here to provide experiences that feel familiar, but fresh. We operate under the Miyamoto mindset of creating games that are easy to learn, yet hard to master.

Commissioned Contributors:

Vadim Dyachenko - Grand Master of the netplay realm

Robbie Dolan - Third of his name, composer of chiptunes

Jamesman the Regenold - Knight of 2D illustration

Our Situation

I invite you to check out our Tumblr post detailing the events leading up to the crowdfunding campaign. It's full of uncomfortable honesty, introspective reflection and all manner of remorseless pieces of metal. And while you're there, you may stumble upon some other #IndiePogo nuggets. 10/10 would read again:

The Financials

Indie Pogo has been funded out-of-pocket for nearly 3 years. We LOVE working on this game, so much so that we have forgone careers elsewhere in order to make it happen. But making quality gaming experiences isn't easy. Video games are a perfect blend of visuals, coding, user experience, sound effects, music, writing, communication, and control schemes. Each takes a ton of time and should any be lacking, the game can fail. Through implementation, testing, and iteration, we've found a process that works well for our team. We need your support to keep that process going!

We've got some pretty cool rewards for those who want to support us in our endeavors!

The GAME

You get a copy of the game at a discounted price. Collaborators get some extra exposure. And the Lowe Bros get support from you awesome dudes & dudettes. Talk about a win-win-win!

All tiers above $10 include a digital copy (or 2) in addition to their respective pledge rewards.

Skins

When you play Indie Pogo online, you're going to want the randos to know that you're part of the reason they're able to play this delicious game. Don a Kickstarter-exclusive skin and then show them who the boss is.

Print

What could be better than a cluster of your favorite indie characters printed on semi-glossy sheet of easily-framed paper? Nothing we can think of.

Instruction Booklet

We grew up in the Golden Era of gaming with a beautiful SNES. All games had instruction manuals. Therefore, Indie Pogo will have an instruction manual. Full of nostalgia-inducing art, controls-breakdowns, backstory, and other fun goodies.

Custom Character

Want to add your likeness to the game? Have an OC you want to see make an appearance? Want to force us to include a poop emoji?! Well the choice is yours. You show us what to pixel-up, and Trevor will be forced to create/animate it! MWHAHA!Disclaimer: No poop emojis, pretty please

Poster

Let's be honest, your walls are looking somewhat bare. But we have a solution for you. Hang a movie-theater-quality Indie Pogo poster up. It features hand-drawn art of all playable indies (and maybe a few surprises).

T-Shirt

Going on a first date? Don't know what to wear? BOOM. We got you covered...literally. The design is subject to change.

Testplay with the Lowe Bros

Join the Lowe Bros. via Skype/Discord/TeamSpeak/singing telegram/etc. for a sneak peak at the Indie Pogo build. Play with us to your heart's content all while giving us as much feedback as you like in a effort to make this game a perfect 10! You may even spot some bonus content not featured on this campaign ;P

Director for a Day

You've always wanted to make a game. But who wants all the drudgery that comes with it? Be a Director for a day and reap the fruit of the position, without dealing with all those icky "responsibilities" we keep hearing about.

Over 50+ studios believe enough in us to make this crazy game happen. We hope you will join us on this journey too! In order to stay informed, be sure to check out these links...and heck, give us a LIKE will ya:

Risks and challenges

Indie Pogo isn't an idea. It's not a design doc, a mock-up, or a prototype. Indie Pogo is a functional, polished, playable game, and it's close to completion. We've taken it to conventions and have received amazing feedback. The only risk we face is time. Soon, Yoyo Games will be sun-setting Game Maker Studio, and we currently cannot advance to GM2 due to issues with the way GM2 handles deterministic collision. We need your help to eliminate financial roadblocks to get it into your hands as soon as possible!

In the event that an unforeseen challenge arises, we've noticed a trend in the past. Oftentimes, when development gets rocky, its common for developers to fall silent for months. Instead, we plan to advertise exactly what speed-bumps we face as they arise. That way, we may be able to arrive at a solution faster via a collective thought-network. We have experienced dozens of personal setbacks while getting the game this far. We're committed to getting this game done and with your help, we shall persevere.

Kickstarter is not a store.

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Megaton

TESTPLAY WITH DEVS~~
Join us for an online testplay session where you can give detailed feedback, make recommendations for new ideas, suggest new indie fighters, or just chill with us devs and talk about life!